


Things you never knew

by strawhat4life



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Johnlock - Freeform, M/M, Marriage, OC, Original Character - Freeform, Romance, child fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-01-14 00:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1246471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawhat4life/pseuds/strawhat4life
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moriarty has something big against Sherlock, much bigger than usual and it has John learning things so deep into Sherlock's past he may never be able to see Sherlock the same way ever again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_October 1, 2013_

**_The case of Holmes History_ **

_Things had started very oddly that morning, When I awoke Sherlock was already up and fully dressed however that was normal, what wasn't was that he had tea set out on the table as if expecting someone._

* * *

John looked surprised to see that there were no experiments, no rotting of corpses or human eyeballs just tea.  
"What's going on?" John asked though he was slightly afraid Sherlock pointed to a letter on the kitchen table as he continued to set up, the uncharacteristically cheery aura of the room honestly was scaring John just a little bit. John approached the table and picked up a letter, the envelope was addressed to Mrs. Hudson down stairs but obviously it was written for Sherlock.   
The letter read:

_ Dear Mr. Holmes, _

_ I've heard of your latest encounters and I'll be coming for my usual visit on September The Twenty fifth. _

_ Be sure that this is kept soully between us and if you are to tell your flatmate that you do not say it Directly for safety precaution. _

_ Please do your best to keep this out of the hands of your brother because we both know that he will throw a hissy fit. _

_ I will see you then hopefully  _

_ SIncerely, _

_ Carol E. Nicholas _

John read the letter over not understanding in the slightest and decided to look at the envelope for further clues but instead it only lead to even more confusion as it was from a school in Saratoga, California USA. John looked up at Sherlock for clarification,  
"she owes me a favor" was his only reply at first John still as baffled as he was decided that he wasn't going to learn anything until this stranger showed up on their doorstep.

Two hours passed by and still nothing had happened Sherlock had begun to pace and John sat in his chair reading the paper, at last there was a knock on the door but alas, only Mr.s Hudson however she looked very worried  
"I looked every where for her at the airport I swear the when i asked the flight attendants they said that she had already gotten off the plane with someone and left." Mrs. Hudson said worriedly   
John saw the spark of worry in Sherlock's eyes just for a brief instant but after Sherlock inhaled a bit he invited Mrs. Hudson in to sit down with some of the tea that he had John reheat Sherlock then took his cellphone and disappeared outside.  
John looked at Mrs. Hudson then once he was sure Sherlock was out of ear shot  
"Who is this Carol Nicholas?" he asked curiously as he took a cup for himself and Handed Mrs. Hudson her own.  
Mrs. Hudson had to think for a minute trying to recall, John waited patiently for her thinking that perhaps she actually may not have known  
"I believe Sherlock solved the case of her missing Aunt, her husband had murdered her for the money I'm afraid so she owed Sherlock a favor." Mrs. Hudson said to him   
While this did add to John's further knowledge it however did not tell him why she was coming to visit, had she run into another problem? had her husband escaped from jail? and why was it so important that the letter not be spoken of aloud?   
as if seeing the wheels turning in John's head Mrs. Hudson seemed to realize something he did not for she started to laugh a bit  
"Oh Dear, she isn't the one that is coming!" Mrs. Hudson said to him  
John was once again completely baffled had he missed something important? there seemed to be an on going secret among the group and he just wasn't in the loop as of yet.  
as if to create even more problems and confusion Sherlock returned with Mycroft in tow  
"Alright that's it, I got the letter that she escaped where is she?" Mycroft asked obviously angry Sherlock rolled his eyes at him   
"I don't know, that's why I started to ask you where she was and you just appeared" Sherlock said to him just as frustrated as Mycroft was.

What was going on? who were they talking about if not Carol? who had Mrs. Hudson gone to meet at the airport? why was no one telling him anything?  
The Holmes brothers got into a shouting match which snapped John back to reality he sighed a bit and took a spoon banging it on his tea cup to create a noise that shut the both of them up  
"Will someone tell me what the bloody hell is going on here?" John asked them frustrated there was a moment of pause between the group that allowed them to hear the buzz of Sherlock's phone. Sherlock grabbed it and picked it up reading a text message he frowned seeing the message   
"I need to leave, Mrs. Hudson will explain it to you, Mycroft you need to come with me." Sherlock said this finally seemed to baffle everyone else in the room except for Sherlock as he headed for the door but Mycroft wasted no time in following him. when the door shut John turned to Mrs. Hudson

* * *

_As it turned out the person they were talking about was a young Miss Katherine Elizabeth March, Age four (just old enough to go to the boarding school that was listed on the envelope) Now I know this question has come up quite a few times in the past with comments about Sherlock's relationship with other people, Well apparently about five years ago Sherlock Holmes, the emotionally challenged, Narcissistic, absolutely mental detective, was involved with a young woman named Serina.  
Now when I say involved I mean, and in Mrs. Hudson's own words "Hopelessly head over heels for the girl, never seen anything like it!"_

_Apparently he met her while on a case when he was just starting out as a consulting detective, her father had been murdered and it didn't take a genius to figure out that her brother had done the dirty deed. After that he had spent a lot of time observing her.  
"She wasn't like other people," Sherlock later wound up telling me he had almost a far off look in his mind as he remembered her. "she was different some how, like nothing i had ever seen before, her brother had held her at gun point even and yet she hadn't flinched stared at him with those icy blue eyes that bored into someone's soul, I swear she could see everything with those eyes."_

_Needless to say even after the case he continued to observe her, actually stalked would probably be a better word. He followed her to coffee shops, shopping trips, dates even and yet apparently she always knew he was there. Sherlock says he could always tell by the little smirk she would have on her lips after she'd put on some red lipstick that he always could tell she knew he was there, and yet it confused him how.  
I suppose that's how Sherlock gets involved with anyone, friend, lover or otherwise. They manage to confuse him so he sticks around to finally figure them out._

_Eventually Sherlock wound up just being with her openly after hopelessly being outed in the park one day when a cyclist knocked him into the pond at the park, apparently she had laughed so hard she was in tears as she helped him out.  
All I can picture is a young Sherlock Holmes with a goofy love struck grin on his face, despite that I know it's not in his character but from what I know he wasn't the same person back then. _

_After that she came with him on his cases and it became almost a contest to them to see things first, to try and figure things out and they faced all kinds of things including a surprise that even I didn't expect.  
Parenthood._

_That's right Serina Margret March, aka the mother of Katherine Elizabeth March._

_Katherine took on her mothers name for protection._

_it was about four months after Katherine was born that her mother, Serina, was killed in an accident.  
"Sherlock wasn't much the same after that," Mrs. Hudson explained to me "I don't think even now he's really gotten over it, then again no one really gets over their first love especially when they're so deep in a relationship."_

_Sherlock was left with a four month old daughter, that was however what really destroyed him._  
Mycroft, being the unpleasant Donkey's ass he is decided that Sherlock Holmes was not fit to care for a child, and needless to say collecting enough evidence to go against that (i.e. the head in the freezer, a jar of eye balls in the cabinet, an entire drawer of human hair samples, etc.) and Mycroft took Katherine away from Sherlock at just a year and a half and put under Mycroft's care.   
Mycroft hired a Nanny to care for Katherine while he worked and from the time she could read street signs on her own she had been running away and going home which to her was 221B Bakers street. This obviously would cause many problems for Sherlock and the first time she did it Mycroft accused Sherlock of kidnapping and all ties to Katherine were forbidden. But Katherine kept running no matter what Mycroft did and the Nanny had even gotten into just helping her write letters to Sherlock, when those started to be confiscated The Nanny had them addressed to Mrs. Hudson and considering she was friends with Mrs. Hudson as well it went over their heads for a while, they could take the leters from Katherine, they couldn't take them from the Nanny though. For Katherine's fourth Birthday approximately eight months ago now, Mycroft sent Katherine to a special boarding school thinking that perhaps that would get her to stop her from running away.

_I can tell you that this child broke out of four of London's best boarding schools in four months and ran home to 221B._  
after the fifth boarding school kicked her out Mycroft sent her to a school in America, where one of the teachers, Miss Carol E. Nicholas owed Sherlock a favor. She took on writing the letters for Katherine and helping the young girl, sending Sherlock pictures and notes that I found out Sherlock hid in a secret compartment in the back of his closet.  
He showed me her map of the human brain she had made from pasta, though it was a sloppy work I could tell as a father and as Sherlock he couldn't have been prouder.  
Apparently this meeting was supposed to be secret, Katherine had time off from school and instead of spending it with her Aunt, she had been put on a plane back to England to see Sherlock in secret.

_well the secret was out and the girl was missing._

_Sherlock didn't come back to the flat that night and judging by a mysterious call from Mycroft's secretary, he didn't show up to work the next morning._


	2. All the kings horses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John gets a call from Lestrade where he begins to unravel more and more of the mystery that is Sherlock Holmes.

_That night I fell asleep on the couch waiting for Sherlock to return, to tell me more himself but he never returned and the next morning I recieved two strange phone calls, one from Mycroft's Secretary asking if the two had finally murdered each other because Mycroft hadn't shown up that morning, the other was from Lestrade asking for me to come to Scotland Yard immediately._

* * *

John hurried into Lestrade's office, he didn't look happy which was a cause for worry. John shut the door behind him and sat in the chair across from him Lestrade said nothing to him just took out his answering machine and pressed play, a moment later Sherlock's voice played.  
"As you may know last night the international bank was broken into no money was stolen just a safe deposit box left behind was the card for Mycroft Holmes at six thirty tonight the apartment building three blocks from my home, 44 Clark Avenue will be burned to the ground with everyone inside, if you try to evacuate before hand We'll blow up the building ahead of time, however no one will be harmed if you can tell us what is in the box. you have until six tonight to tell us, Moriarty sends his love."  
the tone in Sherlock's voice was one of frustration obviously it was against his will, which told John exactly what had happened to Katherine.  
Lestrade looked at John then  
"Think you can do it?"  
"Who did the box belong to?" John asked him curiously thinking that might be a good place to start Lestrade sighed   
"We've already got people looking into it, what could be-"  
"Katherine." John replied already knowing what Lestrade was going to ask him. Lestrade fell silent seeming to understand a bit more after that was John seriously the only one who hadn't known Sherlock had a daughter? John stood then he was trying to think of how to figure this out, he only had until Six P.M tonight and the two most capable people that could help him were currently trying to save Katherine. That sparked an idea.   
John turned to Lestrade   
"If we find Katherine, Moriarty won't have anything to hold against them any more." John said to him Lestrade nodded a bit   
"I'll have some people look into it," Lestrade said with a sigh John had a feeling this wasn't going to be easy, after all he was no Sherlock but there had to be something he could do.  
John returned to the flat and was surprised at who had broken into the flat this time.  
"Hello John," Irene said with a smile she had made tea for two and motioned for him to sit down as if it were her own home. John didn't question it really he just sat down  
"I hear our Sherlock is up to no good?"  
"Moriarty has some heavy leverage over him and Mycroft that's causing them to work together to do crimes." John explained Irene nodded a bit bringing the tea cup to her lips and taking a sip of it leaving a ruby red lipstick stain on the cup. John watched her for a moment, he could tell she knew something he didn't something she was keeping to herself, he knew from the spark in her eyes. after a moment of silence between the two where John finally decided she wasn't gong to tell him until he asked her he let out a frustrated sigh  
"Spill your guts, what do you know that I don't?"  
"A lot of things but I assume you're referring to the knowledge I know that relates to this." Irene said to him placing her cup down on the table John sighed and nodded 

"Well yes."  He said to her Irene took to observing something on her hand but John knew she was just stalling trying to make him at least a little frustrated, what was more annoying was that it worked.  
"isn't it obvious?" Irene asked after about a five minute pause as her eyes looked upon him observing him for his reaction when John didn't reply obviously not understanding she laughed a small gentle laugh "he's trying to make you learn more about Sherlock, obviously there is something you don't know about sherlock that he does and that he wants you to find out" 

John stared at her for a long time trying to figure it out for himself as to how she figured that out, had she also known about Katherine? John looked down at his cup for a little bit currently trying to figure that out he then looked up he looked at her  
"and how do you know that?" he asked her a bit skeptically Irene's know it all smile made his blood boil ever so slightly he was getting annoyed with the games and how casual this all seemed, her breaking into the flat, making tea and treating him like a toy, it was all very frustrating  
"because that safe deposit box belongs to Serina March."   
John stopped for a minute things were starting to make a little more sense now or at least the situation itself, what Moriarty was doing though he didn't even want to question how Irene knew who the box belonged too  
"The box was in her will and was supposed to be given to either Katherine or Sherlock when Katherine turned sixteen, only then was the box allowed to be opened."  
"Do you know what was inside of it?" Irene rolled her eyes a bit at his stupid question and John sighed "Right stupid question how could you possibly know you're just the female equivalent to Sherlock Holmes that's all" he muttered under his breath in slight annoyance, actually not even slight just plain full out annoyance this however brought up an answer to an earlier question John hadn't asked her, it told him why she was here. Irene must have been just as curious as he was to figure out what was in that box 

* * *

Sherlock sat in the basement of the apartment building he had instructed Lestrade too, at a large wooden table that rested his elbows on the table with his chin against his hands that were folded in front of him, a cell phone sat on the dead center of the table and Sherlock watched it like an angry animal would at the human who so stupidly had angered it. the phone finally went off and it hadn't even finished it's first ring when he answered it  
"I did what you want now let me speak to her." Sherlock demanded into the phone his tone firm but not yet angry, 

Yet being the key word.

"You can speak to her after they figure out what's in the box" Mycroft said on the other end of the phone "He won't let me speak with her either but he said he wouldn't hurt her so long as we did as he said"  
Sherlock sighed and rubbed his temples he shouldn't have assumed it was Moriarty but at least he got something of an answer, this was hell his mind was racing his heart was pounding, it was like he had taken a dose of adrenaline that just wouldn't calm down yet and it was driving him mad.  
"What is in that box exactly Sherlock?" Mycroft asked him Sherlock sighed looking over at the box that sat on the stool next time "Something important to what happened to me and Serina that thing that only the three of us knew." Sherlock said to him he wanted to be sure it was kept quiet in case Moriarty had bugged the phone and did not yet know though he doubted that Moriarty would do this and not know what was inside.  
Mycroft sighed "Oh." he said flatly there was a long pause between the brothers as if they were silently sending every ounce of hatred for the other through the line Sherlock heard a beep on the phone and sighed   
"that should be Moriarty" he said before hanging up on Mycroft and answering the other line  
"Yes."  
"your wife's belongings." Sherlock was quite surprised to hear Irene's voice it wasn't the pleasant surprise he thought their next meeting would be   
"I beg your pardon?"  
"Inside the box, some of the contents should include your wife's wedding ring, a letter to Katherine from her, a letter from you as well just in case anything were to happen to you on a case, and some secret files that you two were going over for Mycroft at the time of her death."   
Sherlock paused looking down at the box suspiciously as if he now doubted that it was actually there and that Irene herself was going through it  
"How did you know?"  
"I've got a source that told me that you were studying a case for Mycroft then, you don't have her wedding ring any where in your room and that's certainly not something that you throw out or sell when she dies, and the letters as precaution just in case the worst was to happen." Irene said as if it were absolutely obvious.  
Sherlock paused again.

His thoughts racing a mile a minute her deductions made sense and he sighed   
"Yes that's right." he said the relief actually slipping into his voice as he stood and strode up the stairs "If you'd like you can send the police to the apartment building now they'll find the box down in the basement." Sherlock explained  
Irene chuckled on the other end of the line and he could practically hear the smirk in her voice and feel the glare that John was giving Irene.  
"You'll have your challenge by tomorrow morning expect a video to arrive at the police station at precisely eight twenty-two am." Sherlock said the next part caught him slightly off guard  
"Don't worry Sherlock, We'll find your lost kitten."  
another pause.

At first Irene thought the line had gone dead because it had gotten so silent for so long but just before she asked she heard him say  
"Thank you, but i'm not sure if you can."  
With that he hung up the phone and went to join Mycroft

* * *

 

_I feel this was a particularly case was a hard one for Sherlock, he was stuck between the thought that he might lose Katherine, and the thought that he might lose me and everyone else as well once we figured things out for ourselves._

_The entire case I just kept wondering about poor Katherine though, four years old she had lost her mother, didn't care much for her uncle (not much of a surprise there) and all she wanted in her life was to be with her father. the case certainly wasn't a happy one on any means and the entire time I worried about what Moriarty was doing with the child in the mean time or even if she was alive._

_But from my own deductions she was a very clever child, perhaps if we got lucky we'd still be able to rescue her before anything horrible happened to her._

_IF we were lucky that is._

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own sherlock I only own Katherine and Serina. let me know what you think though please


	3. Sherlock's vital information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mycroft and Sherlock are at each others throats, John and Irene are plotting things out, and we get a first look at Katherine March

John and Irene had been at it ever sense they had figured out the safe deposit box mystery and now they were trying to track down where they could be. Which was easier said than done. Moriarty did have a lot of connections after all and the possibilities of where he could hide were endless, where Mycroft and Sherlock were hiding however could be narrowed down because if they were working together they'd have to tolerate each other enough to be hiding together, which limited their agreeable places however this may also have caused quite a bit of tension between John and Irene.

"NO! No, no,  _No."_  John started pulling out one of the thumb tacks they had been using to mark a possible hiding place "What on this or any other bloody planet could possibly be making you think that they could be hiding in some place as obvious as a dingy dark motel, do you just get these things from watching those old time mob movies and just use what you can in real life?"  
Irene fumed at the thought swiping the tack back out of his hands and jabbing it into the board they had set up in front of them with a map of London and the surrounding area back into the motel she thought they could be hiding at  
"Firstly it is not a dingy dark motel, it's actually extremely well kept, and how  _dare you_ insult my intelligence this way! you know that I am the only one who can help you right now so why do you insist on insulting me."  
"Because you won't go any where, you want to find out what Sherlock is hiding just as much as I do," John said as he looked over the board pulling the tack out for what felt like the fifth time as he scanned the board with his eyes trying to think "It must be important of Moriarty wants it out in the open."   
For once Irene agreed with him also looking over the board, they were trying to find where they could be hiding with in a two block radius of the apartment building that Sherlock had almost destroyed earlier, it was now eleven pm and they still didn't have any definite leads to follow up on where to find them, or even any on where to find Katherine.

"Alright so Moriarty has to be some where close to wherever Sherlock and Mycroft are so that he can watch them and make sure they don't do anything to go against him," Irene started thoughtfully   
"or" john interjected "he has eyes watching them in which case he would also probably have people watching us and that means that-" John was suddenly cut off by the ringing of the house phone John paused for a moment "and apparently that's all the time we have." he said sarcastically before he walked over to the phone Irene picked up the tack  
"Don't you dare tack that motel again!" Irene frowned and put the tack back down as John walked tiredly over to the phone he picked it up falling into a kitchen chair as he did   
"Hello?"  
"Hello, i-is Sherlock Holmes there?" if there was ever a voice that made a person sound small this child's voice was it. The fear in her voice had John at high alert which also had Irene staring  
"Um he isn't available at this very-"  
"Please?" Now John could assume it was a young girl hearing the voice being a bit more girlish "Please I need to speak with him it's real important, I don't have a lot of time."

Something sparked in both John and Irene's minds   
"Katherine?" John asked the other side of the line went quiet John worried something had happened to her but she replied much more fear in her voice this time "H-how do you know me?" John could tell she had been crying a great deal the way her voice broke   
"D-don't cry i'm your father's flatmate John Watson, Katherine where are you?" John asked her "It's very important that we come get you right now."  
"You can't he's going to find me first and and" she let out a small sob which was a bit heart breaking "I want my dad" she cried John looked up and Irene had the laptop John stood up and looked over her shoulder, she was trying to trace the signal of the call assuming that Katherine was using a cell phone John walked over to the board then   
"Katherine I need you to calm down alright?" John asked her trying to keep his voice level "Do you know where you are?" he asked there was a pause John assumed she was observing her surroundings and after a moment she replied  
"No,"  
"Can you describe where you are?" John asked her  
"I-I'm in a park," John put up several small tacks in the parks that he found in the London area on a seperate map they had "a very large park" he took five out which left him with nine parks John waited for her to go more into detail about the park  
"Um I-I don't know it's really dark and and scary" John could never imagine that the daughter of Sherlock Holmes was afraid of the dark but he did suppose she was still a little girl and every child at one point or another was afraid of the dark, however now John was having a hard time figuring out how to get her back on track  
"Katherine please you have to do this, the sooner i can come and get you the sooner that you can see your dad alright? and get away from the people who took you." John said Katherine took a deep breath   
"Ok" she replied though her voice still trembled from fear John looked at Irene on the laptop  
"It's a disposable mobile but it's bounced off two towers one of which is two blocks from the apartment building and three blocks from a park."  
John put the phone back to his ear   
"Katherine are you still there?"  
"yes"  
"you wouldn't happen to know how far you traveled?"   
"a couple blocks" John thought for a minute trying to think she was a small child so judging time and distance she may have gotten out at about ten thirty, half an hour ago Irene apparently did this math as well and was taking up lines of string from the different parks to the apartment building trying to figure out where she could possibly be John continued trying to encourage Katherine perhaps to calm her down enough that she could tell them more but he heard her gasp and the other line was suddenly very quiet  
"Katherine? Katherine are you still there?"  
a long pause that made John's stomach churn but he was a bit more relieved when he heard her voice  
"yes" she whispered "He's here in the park I have to go"  
"No!" John said quickly "No no don't do that stay on the line with me alright?" John asked her urgently Katherine let out a small fearful whimper "It'll be alright I promise" John said calmer now trying to keep her from crying again, god he hated it when children cried it broke your heart or at least his not to mention he was also slightly afraid of what Sherlock would do if Sherlock found out he made her cry.  
there was a shuffling sound that John couldn't Identify but a moment later he did hear Katherine screaming   
"Katherine?! KATHERINE!" it was then he had realized what the shuffling was, she had hidden the phone! John looked back at Irene "she hid the phone so we could find it" Irene started doing calculations  
"Assuming the phone had full battery when she took it approximately a half hour ago and it's a disposable phone that goes through battery rather quickly.......I'd say we have an hour and a half to find it before it goes dead." Irene said to him John left the line open and used his Mobile phone to call Lestrade and the police.  
Twenty minutes later there was a mad dash at all the parks that Irene and John had mapped out John went to the one that he thought was most likely still attempting to find the phone Irene had hung up the phone so that people could try calling the number back and track it by ring.  
They searched the whole area but no sign of Moriarty could be found, however someone did find a small black shoe which appeared to be a childs. this caused the means of everyone to look. LEstrade was the one who found the phone hidden under a park bench, but what fascinated john was the message that had been scratched into the wood   
"Too close."   
John could only assume that it was Moriarty who had done the deed himself so that left at least one clue of him. John then heard Anderson mouthing off to some of the others about Sherlock.  
"To think that, he of all people has a child! Shouldn't there be a law about people like him reproducing? limit the number of sociopaths and nut cases there are-" Anderson stopped when he found John glaring daggers at him   
"is that really what you're concerned about?" John asked him "This is a Child, a four year old girl who is desperate and afraid and frankly i'd be more scared of morons like you reproducing I mean if you ever get Donovan pregnant it will most likely be because you tricked her." John said annoyed before he headed back to the cab he could just imagine the smug look on Sherlock's face if he saw the look on Anderson's face.   
Wait.

If Katherine had been running away she would have been trying to run to 221B because that was what she considered "home" she always had, so why had she come this way? either she had gotten side tracked along the way or.....  
 _Too close._

The words echoed loudly in John's head and he turned around to Lestrade who had been heading back to his squard car "Sherlock's near here." he said suddenly this alerted Lestrade a bit   
"How could you possibly-" Lestrade began but John cut him off wanting to hurry and get them out looking for him.  
"Katherine was at the wrong side of the park to be able to be heading to Bakers street like she always has done when she's run away, that means that she either was a lot more lost than she thought she was or that once I told her that Sherlock wasn't at Bakers street she headed in another direction knowing exactly where he could be!"

* * *

 

Sherlock could see the flashing lights from the window of the apartment that he and Mycroft had been instructed to wait in. Mycroft sat at the table tapping the tip of a pen to a table, a nervous habit, sherlock observed though he couldn't decide if he was worried about Katherine or his job being on the line. Sherlock assumed more the later, if he really cared about Katherine he wouldn't have shipped her off to boarding school at four years old.   
"Will you stop that infernal racket?" Sherlock asked annoyed "between you and those squad cars i'm going mad!" Sherlock said Mycroft stopped tapping the pen but Sherlock caught the quick mumble of   
"Can't go where you already are."   
Sherlock chose to ignore it, he had more important things to worry about. Katherine, Serina's case, John's view of him. In that order those were the three things he worried about at the moment from most to least, everything else was mostly irrelevant.  
Sherlock's phone went off.

The two brothers looked up and Sherlock picked up the phone to read the text message that had been sent to him.  
 _The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  
_ _She escaped, got two and a half blocks away_

_ and had the police there in the span of an  _

_hour. Clever girl._

JM

Sherlock's blood boiled just a bit, he called the number the text message came from trying to calm himself down and also trying to shut a protesting Mycroft up so that he could hear what was going on, on the line.  
The phone was answered.  
"Hello" Moriarty's voice rang through the phone Sherlock could practically hear the arrogant, insane smirk in his voice   
"I want to speak with Katherine." Sherlock demanded still swatting Mycroft's hands away as he tried to take the phone and jumping up on top of the bed so that his brother couldn't reach him, it was a childish antic but rather affective for the moment.

Moriarty laughed on the other end of the phone.

"Sherlock do you honestly believe I would hurt a small child?" he asked hurt in his voice but Sherlock saw through that easily his fists clenching and unclenching from the frustration of Mycroft and the psychopath that held his daughter's life in his heartless, blood stained hands.  
"With out a seconds hesitation or regret." Sherlock replied Moriarty paused and Sherlock hit Mycroft with a pillow to keep him from grabbing him and the phone.  
"Fair enough" Moriarty said all of the hurtful tone in his voice completely gone there was another pause and sherlock could hear him speaking to who he only assumed was katherine hearing him say "go ahead sweetheart, it's your daddy." the way he spoke to her made Sherlock furious he didn't know why but the false gentleness in his voice deceiving a child,  _His child,_ was not a good idea!  
"Daddy?" Sherlock's thoughts of anger and fury were diminished like water being thrown on a flame when he heard her small voice calling him and he was just relieved to know she was alive at least.  
"I'm here Katherine." Sherlock said Mycroft then stopped fighting sherlock allowing him to drop down into a sitting position on the bed "are you alright?"  
"Daddy he hit me!" there was that anger again. Blood pumping furiously but Sherlock took a deep breath attempting to hold it off. Moriarty would get what was coming to him. Sherlock would see through to it.

"Don't worry, if he knows what's good for him he'll never strike you again." the look of disgust on Mycroft's face alerted Sherlock that he at least cared a little for his niece, there wasn't a possibility that he didn't know that Moriarty was capable of hurting a child.  
"Daddy I want to come home! Will I get to see you when this is over?" katherine asked him the desperation in her voice even broke his heart after all it was his child.   
"Yes you will I promise Mycroft and I will come to get you and then you can come home and rest." Mycroft looked like he was about to protest but sherlock threw the pillow at him   
"Quiet i'm talking" he scolded Mycroft "Katherine I don't suspect that we have much time left before the Police find me and your uncle so you have to listen to me very closely alright?"  
"mmhmm"   
"I know it's hard but I need you to be brave." there was the sound of a car door being slammed shut outside Mycroft moved to the window   
"It's them." he said Sherlock ignored him and continued with his daughter speaking a bit quicker now  
"I need you to be brave for me just remember that I'm coming for you, I'm always going to come for you and I will protect you."   
He could hear the shouts from down the hall as he listened to Katherine  
"Ok daddy, I promise I'll be brave"   
Sherlock could hear Lestrade's footsteps outside the door and heard him pounding madly at the door as Mycroft opened the window and climbed out the fire escape  
Sherlock's next words were something very important and he made sure it was crucial that no matter what happened his daughter knew this above all else.  
The door burst open then and sherlock only had time to say those three words before he was forced to hang up  
"I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys so much!! I can't believe it two chapters in one night and i'm already up to 128 hits (i had 97 in the first hour and nearly had a heart attack!!) I'll keep updating as much as I can but I only have so much planned out so if you want to give any suggestions leave a comment also i'd like to apologize for my lack of punctuation where it is needed, I'm still working on that because no one could ever explain to me where a period or a semi colon goes and if anyone says "at the end of a sentence/thought" i'm gonna scream because it just frustrates me to no end. But thank you for everything any advice someone has is golden  
> Serina and Katherine are owned by me everyone else is owned by BBC or Sir Arthur Conan Goyle. have a nice day hope you enjoyed


	4. Serina's case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock's been arrested, John's trying to get through to him

_Sherlock Holmes was arrested for attempted Arsen, possession of stolen property, aiding in theft, and harboring a fugitive at Midnight on September 26th. Sherlock refused to say anything about what had happened including what was in the box that Moriarty had wanted so desperately for us to get ahold of, I hadn't told Lestrade what was inside and Sherlock at the moment refused.  
_ _unfortunately I was called in to try and get him to talk, I refused unless I could speak to him where there were no cameras and no microphones. they gave it me this time._

* * *

 

John sat down at the table across from Sherlock, for someone who had just been arrested he looked extremely calm. But John knew better than that, the look in Sherlock's eyes was the same look he had, had at the pool when he saw the bombs strapped to John's chest, the same look John had never wanted to see in Sherlock's eyes ever again.

"Sherlock, I need to ask you something important and I swear I will not tell anyone so long as you're honest with me." John said to Sherlock  
There was a long pause between the two of them as John waited for Sherlock to answer, even with the question he seemed afraid this also worried John he wasn't sure what he was going to get himself into or what he was possibly going to learn about his friend.

"John We both know that you'll post it to your blog eventually, when you do I want you to also write why and be sure to write the entire story not just what you think you know and if I do tell you....I hope you don't think any less of me now."

* * *

_I suppose you all remember when I first met Sherlock, what Donovan had said to me?_

_"One day there will be a body laying on the ground and it will be Sherlock Holmes who put it there."_

_Sadly? she was already right.  
Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes had killed Serina March. Sherlock's wife and the mother of his own child._

_But like everything Sherlock does there is a reason behind everything._

_Serina March had been part of a witness protection program put up by her mother when Serina witnessed a murder  
Serina March aka Margret Richards had witnessed a murder when she was ten years old and had been sent away to pose with a fake family_

_until the murderer was caught.  
Serina didn't know that the family she had been put under however, the elder brother had not been told that she was in witness protection_

_He had just been informed that his parents were adopting him a younger sister._

_But what hadn't yet been discovered was that the Elder brother, one Jacob March, had been the one to commit the murder that Serina had witnessed.  
Serina never revealed her identity to anyone until Katherine was born and then she only told Sherlock._

_Unfortunately that was the least of their problems._

_Three days after Katherine was born, Jacob March escaped prison, a week after that Sherlock and Serina returned home to find their babysitter dead and their child gone._

_Jacob had refused to return the child alive unless he had proof that Margret Richards was truly dead._  
So Sherlock and Serina began to devise a plan, to fake her death, get their child, and run away.  
To go some where safe where they would never be found and to start over. 

_They had everything planned, down to where every last drop of blood would be on the road.  
Sherlock had staged hitting her with a car, he had gotten Katherine back and told Mycroft the location of serina's "brother"_

_however there was something that they hadn't counted on._  
Jacob March also went by another name and had managed to fool Mycroft into murdering his sister in law.  
Jack March aka Jim Moriarty. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi you guys I hope you're still continuing to read this because I love writing this i'm not usually good with this mystery ish stuff and I hope that someone at least likes how I ended the last chapter I tried to make it cute.


	5. Great escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John struggles with how he views Sherlock, Mycroft busts Sherlock out, and the hunt for Moriarty is on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how'd everyone enjoy my plot twist after the feels? I just want to clear something up.  
> No, Sherlock and Moriarty are not related considering Serina/Margret were not actually related be it by blood or adoption.  
> No, Sherlock did not know that Jacob was Moriarty, not until recently.  
> Serina and katherine belong to me everyone else belongs to BBC any further questions comment please  
> enjoy! ~  
> oh and i'd like to apologize if I don't get things right, i'm an american writing a fanfiction for a british show and i don't know all the terms they use so sorry

John slammed the door to the flat open and then again shut as he sat down on the couch he put his face in his hands he couldn't believe it.  
the two of them they hated each other, though now john had a better understanding of Sherlock's hatred for his brother, and just why hadn't they run when they had the chance? Why hadn't Sherlock taken Katherine after that and just gone far far away, and now that lunatic had her! a small helpless four year old girl!  
John wasn't sure if he was more upset that Sherlock hadn't told him sooner or that he had been so stupid as to stay and lose everything!   
"So he told you?" John's head snapped up instead of Irene sitting exactly where he had left her, Moriarty now sat on Sherlock's chair a book in hand he hadn't even glanced up at John, and how John hadn't noticed him before was a little baffling.  
"Where is-"  
"Irene left when she figured out that I'd be coming here looking for you, smart girl, wish i could say the same for you." Moriarty said to him John sighed he wasn't in the mood for Moriarty's games right now! he just wanted to get straight to the point because he was tired it had been the longest night in a while and John just wanted to forget it.

"Why do I have the feeling that you knew all along that Serina was Margret?" John asked him looking at him Moriarty grinned at him which immediately told John that he was right Moriarty was like a tiger with it's pray, he played with it until it no longer amused him and then went in for the kill. In this case his prey had moved on from Serina to Sherlock, this wasn't just his usual game this was a family affair.

"What have you done to Katherine?" John's next question was Moriarty chuckled   
"Where's the fun in the game if you know where the prize is?" Moriarty asked him he checked his watch which told John he was on a schedule this meant there was trouble brewing for him "Hmm by now Mycroft should have shown his superiors the file on Serina March which means that he should have Sherlock out of jail with in the hour." Moriarty stood then and looked at John snapping the book closed and leaving it on the couch  
"Well?"  
"Well what?"  
"are you coming?"   
John knew this question was mainly just because he knew for a fact that if he said no there'd be an army of little red dots covering him proving that there were guns every where that or he was going to threaten Katherine.  
"Fine." John said getting up and grabbing his jacket he pulled it on and followed Moriarty to a car that was waiting out front, once they were inside he was blind folded.

* * *

 

_That was probably the longest car ride of my life. I didn't know where I was going, why they were taking me or if I was coming out of this alive. Things were just falling apart at the seams and there was nothing I could do to stop it._

_I couldn't decide what was more frustrating, that i was helpless or that well actually i'm pretty sure it was just that I was upset which made it all the worse feeling helpless so just a combination of the two._

_When we finally arrived I was lead into the building and once we were inside only then was I allowed to see again, it looked like at one point it had been a butchers shop, not very comforting for me and I could see Katherine sitting in the corner she had a pair of handcuffs and was playing with them which seemed to surprise more than just me._

* * *

"How did you get out of those ones?" Moriarty asked frowning Katherine looked up at him with large round blueish green eyes that were very much her fathers, John also noticed her black curls that reached her chin he noted that she probably also got those from her father but aside from that and her pale skin tone she was her mothers daughter, the freckles that scattered her cheeks, the round innocent face that looked up with a fearful glance   
"there was a nail on the floor and I used it to pick the lock."  
"Behind your back?" Moriarty said John couldn't help the smirk that came across his lips at the annoyance in Moriarty's voice, he was being bested by a child and it was driving him nuts not that he needed a push to be there. Moriarty walked to where Katherine was and pulled her to her feet by the arms taking the handcuffs from her and pulling her with him back to where John was,  
"Upstairs." he demanded John didn't budge at first folding his arms across his chest stubbornly hoping that perhaps he could slow him down. Moriarty pulled a gun pointing it at Katherine "Now!" he demanded his voice echoing in the blood stained room and Katherine let out a small cry of fear.   
So much for that brilliant plan of his.

John started for the stairs before he looked at Moriarty and stopped   
"Let me take Katherine." John told him Moriarty shook his head   
"Why? so you can pull some complicated military maneuver, steal my gun and not have to worry about me hurting her? John I think you know that i'm just a bit smarter than that." Moriarty said John sighed couldn't blame him for trying now could you? John went up the stairs into what must have one time been a freezer because it was much colder than the rest of the building when John was sitting down on a box Moriarty had one of his henchmen keep a firm grip on Katherine to make sure John didn't try anything and that she didn't escape again.  
Moriarty used the handcuffs to chain John to a freezer rack and then sat Katherine next to him handcuffing her to him with a different set that John noticed were much stronger he wasn't sure whether to laugh or be insulted. Moriarty went downstairs again slamming and locking the door behind him. John looked down at the child next to him   
"So you're the famous Katherine i've been hearing so much about" she looked a bit alarmed but he just smiled "I'm John Watson, you called the flat the other day." Katherine relaxed a bit and nodded   
"Yes, my teacher reads our blog to me a lot she leaves out the especially scary stuff." Katherine told him so she wasn't a complete Sherlock Mini-me, that was good at least for now.

"You seem to have a habit of breaking out of things," John said just trying to keep conversation hopefully to keep them both calm until he could figure something out or she could. Katherine shivered and John tried to put his arm around her which turned into an awkward mess. he wound up sitting her on his lap and holding her despite that it was a bit awkward not knowing each other she seemed to relax a bit more. Despite how mad he was with Sherlock he knew that his first priority in this situation was to protect Katherine, and once they got out of this he was making Sherlock go into hiding though first he knew he'd have to figure out how to get her away from Mycroft. There had to be something he could do.

"Six" John was suddenly very puzzled and looked down at Katherine   
"I beg your pardon?"  
"Earlier you were looking at the handcuffs and wondering how many pairs i had managed to get out of that would upset Mr. Moriarty so much." Katherine said to him simply as she looked up at him "I said six."

well she was definitely his daughter that was for sure.

* * *

Sherlock was handed his things at the station and was told to leave however he just went straight to Lestrade's office where Mycroft and Lestrade were waiting for him, Sherlock retied his scarf around his neck and took a seat   
"Your flat was broken into last night." Lestrade told him to begin with "John's missing now this was left for you." the book was a copy of  _Romeo and Juliet._ when Sherlock opened it he noticed that ever time the words "Star crossed lovers" appeared it was high lighted in different colored highlighters. Sherlock snapped the book closed, he didn't need to be a genius to know who had left the book or who had taken John.  
"So what now?"  
"Nothing." Mycroft replied "he hasn't left a note, demands, a riddle, a game nothing."  
"On the contrary." Sherlock said to him "this entire thing has been a game revolving around Serina's murder the park that he had our motel room over looking was where I first spoke with her after the case, the apartment building was once a theatre where we had our first date, and now he is referring to us as star crossed lovers" Sherlock said to holding up the book again and putting it down "which he left in our first home 221B Bakers street so now the question is where he could have gone next and where he could have taken John, John's done his part in the game there for he must be playing a new role." Sherlock said thoughtfully trying to think of where Moriarty could have gone he was using places that had done a lot in Sherlock and Serina's love life so that meant that Moriarty would take a place of the most importance to hide John and Katherine but where....

Lestrade's phone rang, Lestrade answered but handed it to Sherlock   
"Guess who."


	6. Mercutio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tybalt, Romeo, and Mercutio have a falling out, and the fear of death will start the adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey you guys! i might not be able to update much this week because It's MS week (my mother has Multiple Sclerosis) and i'm doing a lot of volenteer work, plus i'm starting a new job and seeing a concert so i'm gonna try and update as much as I can however no promises sorry.  
> For those of you who are also curious about MS week you basically wear orange to support those with MS I'm currently trying to find a cool orange icon too so if any suggestions i'd appreciate it.  
> Sorry for the unneeded explanation!!!   
> Serina and Katherine both belong to me everyone else belongs to BBC, references to Romeo and Juliet belong to Shakespeare and just so you know the chapter summary will make sense when you read the chapter

"So you figured this out yet?" Moriarty asked Sherlock was in no mood for games right now, two of the people who were important to him were missing and Moriarty thought that he was going to get away with playing like this  
"So assuming I'm the role of Romeo and Serina, my Juliet you wish for this game to kill me."  
"Kill you? no no no don't you know how the story ends? they die to be together i'm not going to let it be that easy on you." Moriarty said to him Sherlock was going over the characters in his head as well as the places that were important to him and Serina, Mycroft must have had the same idea because he pulled over a map spreading it out on Lestrade's desk as well as some thumb tacks Sherlock took some red ones pinning them in the places that he could see that were important to him and Serina, their first date, the hospital Katherine was born in, where they had been married, their first combined case......  
"You're in the butchers shop approximately six blocks from here where the Serina and I had our first case together, the butcher was killing people in the basement and selling their organs on the black market" Sherlock told him Lestrade hurried out of the room to start heading over there Moriarty laughed a bit   
"Don't suppose you've figured out my role in our little story,"  
"You are Tybalt, you were Serina's brother in her cover which technically made you related, Tybalt was Juliet's cousin."  
"you're missing a vital detail in that description." Moriarty said to him with a laugh Sherlock heard what sounded like the click of a gun being loaded he racked his brain quickly before realizing  
"John-"  
"A plague of both your houses." 

the gun went off and Sherlock heard Katherine scream, and Sherlock's blood ran cold.

the line went dead.

* * *

Sherlock hadn't even tried to wait for a car he had just run the entire way finding the quickest way by mapping out a route in his head that allowed him to arrive just before the police. Sherlock broke in the door a quick scan of the room told him that no one was there.  
"JOHN!!" Sherlock hadn't even bothered to keep his voice level and calm as he usually did he hurried up the stairs and found the door locked "JOHN!" Sherlock went through his pockets, fumbling with the lock pick he had borrowed from an evidence bag he had followed on the way out, there were plenty of other things that could have convicted that criminal any way, He got the door open and wasted no time getting inside.   
The room was freezing Moriarty must have reactivated the freezer in the room.  
"John?!"   
Sherlock heard the soft groan and hurried. John laid on the floor his hand still cuffed to that stupid rack that was in the corner. Sherlock hurried to him taking only a quick notice of what was written in John's blood on the floor next to him   
 _"Stabbed under your breast."_  
the line was refering to when Tybalt stabbed Mercutio, Romeo's best friend was stabbed while Romeo was trying to break up them fighting. Which would make John, Mercutio in this situation. Sherlock pulled his scarf away from his neck and pressing it to the wound in John's chest to staunch the bleeding   
"The police will be here soon I already told Lestrade to bring an ambulance so I hope they'll make it here too" he explained to John.  
John looked up at him and was surprised to see how worried Sherlock actually was about him he gave a small smile 

"Don't worry, I've survived worse. course i've also survived better." sherlock actually smiled a little bit and nodded agreeing with him   
"Try not to talk you're just going to waste your energy." Sherlock said he could faintly hear the sirens and cursed Lestrade for his slow procedure how did he ever get anything done it's no wonder that he could only ever find the dead bodies

"Katherine is really sweet." John told him Sherlock looked down at him again John smiled John reached into his coat and pulled out a small drawing though it had a bit of blood on it "She told me she made this for you, she-she was going to give it to you when she got off the plane." John said smiling a bit Sherlock took it and unfolded it he couldn't stop the small smile that graced his features, it wasn't his usual false ones but he was actually smiling it was something that John rarely ever saw but was glad he did.  
the drawing was a crude childs drawing of what appeared to be him, her Mrs. Hudson and John all at 221B she had even drawn Sherlock's skull in his hands he put it down

"We'll have it framed when we get back to the flat, she must like you if she added you into the picture" he said slightly amused John laughed   
"I'm surprised at how sweet she is, you'll also be proud to know that she broke out of six pairs of handcuffs Moriarty put her in." he added to him Sherlock laughed a bit just as the paramedics came in once they took over caring for John, Sherlock began to scold them for taking so long and for doing things wrong ("I may as well be doing it myself!! just give me the materials and go sit in the bloody corner!!!!")

John passed out around the beginning but he woke up in the hospital, Sherlock sat surprisingly asleep in the chair beside him John couldn't help but smile a little bit at him he still had Katherine's drawing in his hand and what appeared to be a copy of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare clutched in the other.

 


	7. Friends with Ben

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Race against the clock, Sherlock and John Vs Mycroft Vs Moriarty. who can find the missing piece?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's taken so long as usual I own nothing except for Sherlock's daughter enjoy :)

It was a week before they heard from Moriarty again, John was out of the hospital and resting in the Flat but was told to take it easy. Like that was going to happen when a psychopath had his best friends daughter.   
Mycroft had gone off to investigate using his best resources to find Katherine and Moriarty.  
Mrs. Hudson had just come up with some tea when Sherlock's phone rang, the three looked at each other knowing exactly who it was. Sherlock answered quickly

"How did you do it?" Moriarty's angry voice came from over the line, Sherlock was more than a little confused which stunned him he always understood.  
"What are you talking about?" Sherlock asked him trying to sort through his mind quickly what he could in fact be talking about  
"How did you get her out of here with out anyone knowing?" Moriarty shouted over the line. Katherine was gone? How could that be possible? where could she have gone?  
  
"What kind of kidnapper Loses their kidnap victim?!" Sherlock shouted into the phone causing John and Mrs. Hudson to jump a bit "How do you lose a little girl?!"  
"You...didn't take her then?"  
"Of course not! I've been with John rereading Romeo and Juliet for the millionth time trying to figure out your sad little game!" Sherlock said it dawned on him then Katherine was gone. She was somewhere in London by herself having just outwitted a serial killer.  
Sherlock hung up instantly and looked at John  
"Get you're coat we need to find Katherine before Moriarty and Mycroft do." Sherlock told him grabbing his coat and scarf quickly, John right at his heels hurrying out the door practically forgetting Mrs. Hudson  
Sherlock's phone rang again he didn't answer it, when it rang a third time he finally did  
"I'm not telling you-"  
"Daddy?" Sherlock paused for a moment comprehending his little girls voice  
"Katherine where are you? how did you get out of there?" Sherlock asked her Katherine paused for a minute Sherlock assumed she was taking in her surroundings in an attempt to figure something out, he waited impatiently for her to reply to him  
"I'm with my friend Ben, you remember him right?" Katherine asked Sherlock racked his brain quickly she had three boys named Ben in her class but what would they be doing here?  
"Katherine you need to be more specific, what's going on."  
"If I tell you they'll find me, I'm waiting for you to find me, please you have to find me before the scary man does." She said Sherlock could hear the quiver in her voice indicating she was going to cry   
"Katherine I need you to be brave right now alright? no tears ok?" he asked her Katherine took a deep breath quivering a little bit "Now tell me more about your friend Ben?" 

"I don't have much time left." she told him and a moment later it was cut off Sherlock hung up his phone and began to think as they got into a cab  
She was using a pay phone, why would she be using a pay phone if she was with a friend why wouldn't she just ask his mother to borrow her cell phone? had she been picked up by another kidnapper? no not possible a ransom would have been asked for by now. Then what?   
"Sherlock are you alright?" John asked him "you look like you're about to bust the window in half."   
Sherlock nodded not denying that it was possible at this point in time which caused John to scoot over a little bit away from Sherlock just to be safe.   
"Ben...ben...she doesn't have any friends named ben! she has three Ben's in her class at her school and she hates all of them because they're boring and obnoxious so how on earth is she with one of them at a pay phone now?" Sherlock asked frustrated John predicted that perhaps the events and lack of sleep were clouding his friends better judgement because even he had figured it out rather quickly  
"Can you take us to clock tower?" John asked the cab driver at last it clicked and Sherlock looked at John  
"you are bloody brilliant,"  
"You're being blinded by the stress of your child in danger."  
"and now having to get to her before Moriarty and Mycroft there's no doubt in my mind that they'll figure it out quickly as well, Katherine is smart enough to be able to avoid them for a while but she won't be able to do it for long." Sherlock told John 

* * *

Katherine stayed in the phone booth for a while, looking around at her surroundings what could she do to find her dad, avoid Moriarty, and not get caught by her uncle? the phones were tapped she knew that so she couldn't call anyone else. she looked down at the wallet she had swiped from one of Moriarty's guards she had to stay in the area hiding wasn't going to be a problem as far as she could think she could just stay in the phone booth until someone else needed it. Katherine sat on the floor and waited anxiously now regretting giving John her picture.  
she wondered if he was alright, she should have used some of her time on the phone to ask her dad that. she heard the sound of someone knocking on the phone booth she could see a man on the outside in a suit with a briefcase, Katherine was about to open the door to let him use the phone when he spoke  
"Katherine Holmes! come out this instant." Katherine stepped back away from the door   
"no! not unless you're my dad or John!" she told him bolting the door shut and stepping back away from the man what should she do? should she call her dad again? her mind was racing but she couldn't do the things her father did under this sort of pressure she felt her eyes well up with tears and she shut her eyes tightly until she heard the knocking on the door again  
"Go away!" she shouted sitting on the floor with her hands over her ears there was a brief pause before she heard it again  
"I said go away!!"  
"Katherine!" Katherine opened her eyes and there he was, John was at the door now the man from before was on the ground and her father stood over him being sure he wasn't getting up any time soon. Katherine quickly unbolted the door and hurried out first she hugged John since he was the closest to her, John picked her up and quickly handed her off to Sherlock  
"Mycroft won't be happy that we took out his friend to get to Katherine,"   
"No no he won't come on." Sherlock hurried back to the waiting cab and put Katherine in Sherlock looked up at the clock tower, Big Ben seemed much brighter than it had before Katherine's friend.   
"Lets go home Katherine, at least for a little while." Sherlock told her Katherine nodded burying her face in Sherlock's chest Sherlock held her tightly his best way of being able to comfort her, just letting her sit there and cry  
"If you wouldn't mind could you take the long way back? these two haven't seen each other in quite a while." John asked the Cabbie as they took off the cabbie nodded and took a turn that wasn't normally the route, John didn't mind though he knew the more time Sherlock had with Katherine the better.

  it was hours later when the cab finally pulled to a stop, Katherine was asleep in her father's arms John smiled a bit  
"it's so strange," John pointed out watching him "you and a child, it doesn't seem natural." John said getting out of the cab Sherlock followed suit holding Katherine to him until he took a look at their surroundings, he hadn't been paying attention until now but they were no where near 221B and now that both he and John realized it, it was far too late.  
"Well it certainly took you boys long enough." Moriarty said stepping out from behind a tree dramatically, Sherlock handed Katherine over to John and walked towards Moriarty, death written in both their eyes as they stalked closer  
"Thank you for picking her up for me."  
"You aren't ever going to lay another hand on her," Sherlock told Moriarty darkly Moriarty put a finger to his lips with a devious smirk  
"Keep your voice down sherlock, the baby is sleeping." Moriarty told him pointing to Katherine "and who is going to stop me if I decide to use her?" Moriarty asked him Sherlock glared at him  
"I will break you like a twig if you ever go near her again." Sherlock said to him as if to test this limit Moriarty took a mocking step around sherlock and closer to Katherine and John, as a reaction John stepped back, and almost as if it were a reflex Sherlock grabbed Moriarty and slammed him back into the tree had been standing behind before  
"oooh getting a little rough aren't we? I think I like daddy sherlock." Moriarty said with a wink "but don't forget I have friends." he said pointing back to where John and Katherine were, when Sherlock looked several red dots were trained on both John and Katherine upon further inspection there were several on him to. Moriarty grinned as Sherlock released him   
"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you now, i'm going to make sure your little baby gets to watch you burn first and when it's all said and done she'll burn with you." Moriarty said he walked over to a car near by and got in, he was driven away and when the car was out of sight the red dots disappeared.  
Neither man moved for a number of minutes before Sherlock turned back to John  
"Looks like we've got a bit of a walk home." he said John nodded Sherlock moved to take Katherine back but John smiled  
"It's alright, I've got her." John promised Sherlock smiled a bit and the two began their long walk home to face the music.

 


	8. repetitive arguments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mycroft and Sherlock are back to their normal selves, John is left to care for Katherine while they're at it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still only own Katherine and Serina sorry this isn't beta'd  
> also! despite the ending this is not the end of the story!! for those of you who haven't noticed that while John and Sherlock have shared their moments I HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE SHIPPY STUFF YET!!! so please stay tuned for the fluffy cuteness that is two men and a child!

Katherine woke up the next morning in 221B downstairs in Mrs. Hudson's apartment, she got up and wrapped the blanket around herself  
"Daddy?" she called worriedly but Mrs. Hudson came in quickly and smiled at the little girl   
"Hello dear! your father is just upstairs with your uncle, they're having a discussion of sorts." Mrs. Hudson told her with the elder woman came John with a tray of breakfast treats for the three of them he sat the tray on the bedside table and sat beside her  
"Just don't go upstairs for a while, your uncle Mycroft is um...helping your dad-"  
"he came to get me again and dad is arguing with him as Uncle Mycroft is most likely tearing apart the fridge taking out whatever gross things daddy has in there right?" she asked him John couldn't exactly argue with the child it was what was going on upstairs.  
there was the sound of the two men shouting and something hitting the floor above their heads, John sighed and ran his hand through his hair Mrs. hudson smiled   
"How about after breakfast you and John go out for the morning to get away from all of this?" Mrs. Hudson suggested John wasn't sure that was a good idea, the longest time that he had spent with the child was the two of them kidnapped by Moriarty and well he didn't know how to take care of a little girl, let alone the little girl that had the same DNA as Sherlock Holmes.  
"If you're up to it, it sounds like fun." Katherine told him John nodded a bit unsure really Katherine took the cup of tea off the tray that was in the smaller cup that she assumed was for her, John lead Mrs. Hudson out for a minute   
"Just try to make sure that the two of them upstairs don't kill each other alright?" John asked her Mrs. Hudson nodded then helpfully gave him a few places that were child appropriate John wasn't sure if it would interest Katherine but he'd give them a shot. when Breakfast was over John took Katherine out, first stop was the playground.

Katherine didn't seem to thrilled about it, when they arrived and John sat on a bench she simply joined him sitting beside him. Both were quiet for a long time not saying a word to each other

"How are you feeling?" John looked down at her for a moment not understanding until he realized she was referring to the last time they had met, he offered her a small smile

"I'm fine. Doctors say I should take it easy, How are you holding up?" John asked her he knew this had to have been an eventful couple of weeks for the poor child and it was just going to continue one way or another.

"I think when I get back to school I'm going to have to start seeing my therapist again." Katherine responded with a frown and John couldn't help but laugh at the completely straight face that the little one had on while saying it, the look was so purely Sherlock that he couldn't help himself. Katherine looked up at him and smiled

"John?" John looked up surprised when he spotted Molly, dressed in a Tshirt and some joggers shorts obviously out for some morning exercise as she looked confused at him "What are you doing here?" she asked him John turned more so in his seat

"I could ask you the same question, I thought you were on vacation?" John asked her Molly shrugged   
"Came back early, figured I'd have a couple of days to settle in before going back to work, Who is this little angel?" Molly asked curiously Finally there was someone else who didn't know that Sherlock had a daughter! John felt much less in the dark with this revelation. Katherine smiled a bit and waved   
"Katherine, this is Molly. Molly this is Katherine March." John introduced them Molly reached out a hand and shook Katherine's hand politely

"It's a pleasure to meet you Katherine," Molly said to her happily Katherine smiled and nodded agreeing

"You're another friend of my dad's aren't you?" Katherine asked Molly looked a little confused as she looked at John for an explination

"Katherine goes by her mother's name but she is Sherlock's daughter."   
Molly took a moment to let that sink in, completely in shock and John could already assume she was misunderstanding the situation completely  
"He's maried?!"  
"No," Katherine told her simply "My mother died when I was a baby and Uncle Mycroft sent me to live in the States last year." Katherine informed her Molly was at a loss for words looking between the little girl and John silently asking for his help John simply chuckled

"I forgot you missed all the excitement over your Holiday. Katherine got very well acquainted with your ex, I was shot, Sherlock got arrested for attempted arsen and now he and Mycroft are taking up the entire flat to argue about Katherine returning home or not." John informed her Molly took a moment to register all this information seeming a lot more surprised about some things rather than others when it seemed that her brain caught up with the situation she looked back at the little one with a smile

"So you're spending the morning with John then?"  
Katherine nodded and Molly looked at John

"Well then this is no place for the daughter of Sherlock Holmes to be wasting the day at, poor thing must be bored." Molly said John tried to offended by the insult but to be honest he was just as bored as she was, Molly offered her hand out to Katherine and Katherine took it hopping off the bench trusting Molly's kind smile

"Come on then, I know exactly what to do with you!"

* * *

_After that began probably one of the strangest mornings of my life as Molly brought Katherine and I to the morgue with her where Lestrade protested a child being allowed to play with dead bodies and we were forced to have a rather annoying escort to our day of research. To be Fair Katherine couldn't have been more thrilled about studying her dad's work more and learning more about the human body._

_This was definitely the daughter of Sherlock Holmes._

 

"You can't seriously be allowing this?!" Anderson shouted as he watched Molly show Katherine how to work the microscope that was examining a piece of human tissue and helping the little one adjust it, Anderson was currently over reacting and John just sat out of the way examining some other of Molly's experiments and research

"People are arrested for this sort of thing Molly!!" Anderson argued unfortunately he had been the only one available and was there for their "escort" for the morning and for the life of him just could not shut up.

"It's not like I'm letting her poke one of the bodies." Molly argued removing the slide and replacing it with another one of tissue from a human eye that Katherine picked out and slipped it under the microscope next   
"This is how serial killers are made," Anderson argued still pushing until Katherine sighed and looked up with a frown

"Do you mind? this isn't as easy as it looks and I want to figure out the retina. so please kindly shut up." Katherine told him frowning before she looked down again Anderson was forced into a stunned silence since a four year old had just used the term "Retina" and told him to shut up in the same phrase, Molly had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing at the look on his face and John hid his by pretending to have a coughing fit in the corner as Anderson continued to gawk, for a moment he stood and stared at them before he headed for the door 

"Lestrade has Aspirin in his office," Molly called without looking up from where she was helping Katherine 

"I'm sure that lady Donovan will be able to help him much more than any Aspirin would." Katherine said which shocked John that she probably knew what she was talking about only to hear Anderson turn around and gawk once again at the child

"Dear  _god_ there's two of them!" Anderson shrieked as he left Katherine looked up and watched him go a smile on her face as she looked at Molly   
"That was fun!" she giggled and Molly laughed as she started to show Katherine pictures and started to educate her on the different parts of the human eye in which the little girl genuinely seemed excited John smiled and shook his head putting down a file as he got a text message and read it to himself

**Katherine can come back now,**

**Mycroft and I have made arrangements.**

**where are you?**

**-SH**

John sighed and looked over at Katherine and Molly both looked so happy for each other's company, he almost didn't want to take that away from them as he sent a reply back to Sherlock

**At the morgue,  
** **Ran into Molly and she decided it**

**would be fun to show off. Kat is definitely yours,  
** **Had Anderson running for the hills a moment ago**

**"Dear god there's two of them!" will probably be**

**a new common phrase here.**

**\- JW**

John could already see the pleased smile on Sherlock's face as he turned and looked at the two  
"That was your dad Katherine, he says it's time to return to the flat your father and Uncle Mycroft have made arrangements." John told her Katherine gave a disappointed groan and both females pouted a little bit at the thought that their day of fun was being cut short.

"Molly said she'd show me a human foot though!" Katherine whined   
"Pictures," Molly cut in quickly "I said pictures of a human foot, I can't let you actually play with a human foot Katherine." Molly told her Katherine pouted a little bit but she nodded John took Katherine from Molly's arms and thanked her for the fun at the morgue before the two hopped into the next cab and took the lift back to 221B 

Upon arrival everything was much to quiet for Katherine's liking, John could tell by the frown on her face as she walked up the stairs as if she was going to face her impending doom which as far as John knew she was. when they arrived upstairs Mycroft and Sherlock both sat calmly with Mrs. Hudson between them and a set of tea and snacks laid out before them. Katherine stood rather than took a seat and John took his usual chair Mycroft sighed

"Due to the new developments Katherine we have a few things to discuss with you. your father and I are trying to work out a proper arrangement since it would seem that not even a psychopath like Jim Moriarty is going to stop you from tracking down your father." Mycroft began his tone a very strained calm as if this physically hurt him John noticed how Katherine shifted nervously before she took a seat on the floor, it was clear she didn't want to be close to either of them not wanting to give off any form of false hope or favoritism John sympathized with her wishing there was something he could do to help, it was clear that Katherine was expecting Mycroft to say she wasn't going to be allowed to see her father again and probably be shipped off to another country again.

"We've decided that if you would like you can start going to school in London and start some small visits on a trial basis." Mycroft told her the light that shown in the young girls eyes was unbelievable  as she smiled excitedly but Sherlock was next to cut her off

"Your uncle Mycroft has said there are conditions that the both of us must follow though, firstly no more running away from home." Sherlock started Katherine nodded eagerly   
"Done!"  
"No more purposely setting off experiments in the classroom to go home early or get out of detention." Sherlock added Katherine nodded the more the list of the demands was made the more John questioned whether or not it was actually a good idea or not, Katherine very much so seemed her father's daughter in more ways than one but none the less Katherine agreed to every demand that Mycroft and Sherlock threw her way until it was finished off with the most normal statement of "Not letting her grades suffer"

Mycroft then looked at Sherlock   
"Your visits will be one weekend a month and after school on occasion when it's needed and must be supervised by either Mrs. Hudson, John, Lestrade or Miss Hooper. I'll be getting forms for each of you all to sign agreeing to the conditions given and that you will agree to be the supervisor for the visits and if you cannot will yourselves provide another suitable supervisor." Mycroft said his eyes mostly fell between John and Mrs. Hudson both nodded agreeing to the terms Mycroft stood up and sighed

"I'll take Katherine home to gather some of her things, I'll allow her to spend her school Holiday with you until I can make arrangements for school. when we return there will be no body parts, drugs, or illegal chemicals anywhere that this child could find them agreed?" Mycroft asked looking directly at Sherlock who nodded agreeing Katherine stood up quickly and pulled her father tightly into a hug and Sherlock smiled at her holding her tightly

"I'll see you soon Katherine alright?" Sherlock told her Katherine nodded and hurried out wanting to get her things as quickly as possible Sherlock stood and shook hands with Mycroft before he went into the kitchen no doubt to start cleaning out the freezer. 

* * *

_It seemed that in the end of our inevitable adventure that Sherlock won the right to visit with his daughter and that Katherine and I would be getting another subject to add to my stories. Katherine March and her adventures in 221B will definitely make a wonderful mini series, a ray of sunshine in between Sherlock's dark cases-_

 

"Did you actually just refer to my daughter as a ray of sunshine in between dark cases?" John jumped a mile and a half as he whipped around not realizing that Sherlock had been reading over his shoulder this entire time he had typed their adventures from the last couple of weeks. Sherlock shook his head and reached for the Keyboard that John had to wrestle away from him

"Delete that!"  
"NO!"

"John I said delete it!"  
"It's my blog!"  
"It's my daughter!"

"Boys!" Both men stopped as they looked up to see Molly in the kitchen with Katherine, both in brightly covered aprons and covered in flower from head to toe "If you can't behave you'll go sit in your rooms until supper is ready!" Katherine called to them in a stern tone faking a serious parental tone. John laughed at the cute pout on the little one's face and even sherlock smiled at the sight of it

"Of course dear we'll behave." Sherlock said pulling away from the keyboard and hurrying for the kitchen instead  
John chuckled to himself before he continued typing

" _and a wonderful addition to show that our legendary detective is in some ways actually human."_

 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own sherlock I do own Sherlock's daughter and wife however. Hope you enjoyed the story there's much more to come.


End file.
